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The Eldritch Conspiracy (Blood Song)

Page 27

by Adams, Cat


  open the lid.

  I was speechless for the second time

  in a few moments.

  Amethysts and diamonds, fitted in an

  intricate white gold necklace with

  matching earrings and hair combs. They

  were absolutely stunning.

  “Oh my God! Gilda, they’re …

  gorgeous. I love white gold!”

  She

  scoffed.

  “With

  diamonds?

  Heavens, no. That’s platinum. They’re

  our gift to you, dear.”

  Holy crap! Platinum! The set must

  have cost a fortune! “But … I can’t … I

  mean—”

  “Nonsense.” She rose to her feet so

  that we were standing toe-to-toe. “You

  can, and you will. We insist.” She took

  my hands in hers. “You’ve been loyal to

  us in good times and bad. You,

  personally, have brought us as much

  business as we can comfortably handle

  what with Miller & Creede and the new

  Serenity Secret Service account. And

  now you’ve given us the honor of having

  our work displayed in a royal wedding

  on the world stage for millions of people

  to see.” She reached up to pat me on the

  cheek with a callused but gentle hand.

  “You’re going to look beautiful,

  absolutely beautiful. We’re very proud

  of you, Isaac and I. I know that your

  relationship with your mother is not so

  good, and I am sorry for that. She is an

  idiot if she doesn’t realize what a gem

  she has in you. We do. Isaac and I both

  love you very much.”

  My eyes filled with tears, making the

  room blurry.

  “Now hurry up and get dressed.” She

  made a tsking noise and shook her head.

  “It needs to be taken in more than he

  expects.”

  I was still too choked up to speak, so I

  just nodded and let her help me with the

  zipper and fasten the necklace in place

  so I could see it in the mirror.

  It was beautiful. I was beautiful.

  Cousin.

  Adriana’s

  voice

  spoke

  clearly in my mind. Would you mind

  wearing the jewels when you come out?

  Olga is being a nuisance, complaining

  about her dress. It’s very tiresome. I

  would do much more than keep her in

  the wedding to please my husband, but

  I must admit I do not like her.

  That made two of us.

  When I reentered the living room, all

  conversation stopped. Olga’s eyes got

  huge and Natasha simply blinked dumbly

  at me.

  Adriana smiled. There was pride and

  honest joy in her reaction, along with a

  certain envy, which really surprised me.

  “Beautiful, cousin,” she said. “You look

  absolutely exquisite. You see, ladies, as

  I said before, with the right jewelry,

  these dresses are perfectly elegant and

  modest enough not to offend your

  countrymen.” She winked at me. “I am

  old enough to have a bit more

  experience in these matters than you do,

  after all. I only hope Dahlmar isn’t too

  upset about marrying a much older

  woman.”

  So, Adriana had figured out how to

  bring it in without any help from me. But

  I’d help all the same. “Luckily, the siren

  genes mean that you don’t have wrinkles

  yet.”

  “That,”

  she

  said

  with

  another

  conspiratorial wink, “and excellent

  moisturizer. Thankfully, this century has

  wonderful products available. Beauty

  mud in the nineteenth century really was

  mud.”

  Olga spluttered, “But you’re—”

  “Well beyond ancient. I’m … what is

  the American term? Ah, yes, ‘robbing

  the cradle’ by taking Dahlmar as a

  husband.”

  Adriana’s

  smile

  was

  cheerfully wicked. “Sadly, I don’t have

  enough siren abilities to control my

  beloved psychically; and even if I did

  possess those abilities, his staff has

  ensured he has a protection charm. But I

  would like to think I am still well-kept

  enough to have some influence on him.”

  Okay, so now I had no doubt she’d

  been listening to me and Gilda Levy the

  whole time. I was annoyed about it, too.

  I gave her a stern look.

  I am fighting for my honor, my life,

  and the man I’ve discovered I actually

  love . If you think I’m not going to use

  every advantage I can, you are out of

  your mind.

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t, really. I

  was pretty sure I’d do the same damned

  thing if our roles were reversed. And,

  hey, I had to give her props for using the

  information to her advantage. She’d

  worked it in pretty subtly, all things

  considered.

  Olga and Natasha looked significantly

  at each other and Natasha gave the other

  woman an “I told you so” look before

  tipping her head down to acknowledge

  Isaac’s slight touch on her calf.

  “All right, Natasha, you’re done,” he

  announced. “Gilda will help you choose

  jewelry.” He got to his feet and took a

  step back before extending his hand to

  help Natasha down from her perch.

  “Your turn, Celia.” He gestured toward

  the stool. I climbed up with his

  assistance, being extra careful of the hem

  and the high heels.

  “You’ve lost weight again.” He

  scolded me exactly the way his wife

  had. “You need to eat more. Or drink

  more.”

  “It’s been a rough few weeks.” I

  sounded defensive. I couldn’t seem to

  help it. Like my grandmother, the Levys

  know just how to make me feel guilty.

  But they treat me like family. And if I

  could add another set of grandparents to

  my life, Isaac and Gilda would be my

  first choice.

  “Hmnpf.” He sounded so much like

  Gilda it made me laugh, which made him

  smile. “Good. I like to see you happy.

  Now hold still while I pin you.”

  I held still.

  “I understand you’ll be wearing a

  lavalava for the ceremony here on

  Serenity.” Isaac made it a question.

  “Yes.”

  “What will you do about the sunlight?

  The procession is over two miles long.”

  “I’ll be wearing a hat and a jacket.

  But I’m a little worried about my hands

  and feet. Sunscreen doesn’t last all that

  long on me. Do you have any

  suggestions?”

  He grinned impishly. “As a matter of

  fact, I do.” He rose a little creakily to

  his feet. “I’m done with the pinning. Why

  don’t you go get your outfit and we’ll


  see if my idea is going to work for you?”

  I hurried back to the bathroom,

  anxious to get out of a dress made

  scratchy by straight pins. I felt a little

  pang of regret taking off the jewels. They

  were an amazing gift, not just because of

  the value, although that was not

  inconsiderable, but because they were

  an honest reflection of the affection

  Isaac, Gilda, and I have for one another.

  My family might be a source of pain

  and frustration for me, but my friends?

  My friends are excellent.

  Adriana’s voice whispered in my

  head. There is a safe hidden in the floor

  of your bedroom. I will give you the

  combination so that you may keep those

  jewels under lock and key when you’re

  not wearing them.

  Thanks.

  You are most welcome. And I am

  quite pleased. The dresses you chose

  are lovely. You can be fully armed

  without drawing attention to it, and

  Mr. Levy has agreed to check the

  tailoring and hem of my gown.

  That would probably piss off the

  designer to no end.

  Perhaps it will. But it is my gown,

  and my wedding. And I don’t want the

  ankle holster with the derringer to …

  show.

  Wow. I guess my gun was going to be

  the “something borrowed.” Fair enough.

  When this was over, I might just give it

  to her. Politics is a very dicey business,

  particularly in Rusland. She’d probably

  need it.

  Adriana soon left for a meeting with

  her priest. Olga left almost on her heels;

  only Natasha chose to stay while Isaac

  finished making adjustments to the

  lavalavas I’d be wearing to tonight’s

  state dinner and the wedding the day

  after tomorrow.

  Natasha seemed very nervous. Isaac

  and Gilda sensed something was up and

  made some excuse to run out to their

  rental car for something, giving us a

  moment alone. The minute they were out

  of earshot, Natasha turned to me and

  spoke quickly and quietly. “You must not

  trust Olga. She is devious and

  determined. She does not believe the

  wedding

  should

  happen.”

  Her

  expression was so earnest it almost hurt

  to see it. I was glad that she’d come

  around. Adriana wasn’t perfect, but she

  did love Dahlmar, and she truly wanted

  to be a good queen for his people. I

  hoped that his people would eventually

  come to appreciate that, and her. That

  Natasha was coming around was a good

  sign.

  “I know,” I assured her, “and I don’t.”

  She didn’t seem reassured. “I wish I

  knew what she was planning. I do not. If

  I had proof, I would go to Igor and the

  king. But I have no proof, only

  suspicion. Olga is the king’s niece, a

  member of the royal family. Without

  proof I can do nothing. But I know, in my

  heart, she is planning something.”

  “I believe you.” I did. Natasha’s

  suspicions fit with what Gilda had told

  me and with my own observations. “I’ll

  be keeping a close eye on her.”

  Natasha looked searchingly at me.

  After a long moment, she said, “I think,

  perhaps, she is planning on that, as well.

  Please, look where she would not

  expect.”

  25

  Checking

  the schedule I saw that

  tonight was going to be a busy night for

  Adriana and, consequently, for me. First,

  in the early evening, there was the big

  rehearsal dinner for the Serenity portion

  of the ceremonies—a black-tie event for

  the men and “Serenity formal” for the

  women. Later, Adriana would attend the

  private bachelorette party hosted by her

  girlfriends. I was scheduled to be with

  her at both events. Since nobody was

  throwing a fuss about this, I suspected

  that one or more of the royal family’s

  clairvoyants had seen signs of trouble. It

  would’ve been nice if somebody had

  warned me about the threats—the when

  and where—but no one had, which

  probably meant no one knew. There are

  limits to what even the best seers can do.

  If there wasn’t, there’d be no crime. The

  police would head it off ahead of time.

  In my business I’ve guarded a lot of

  celebrities, but until recently I hadn’t

  done much work with political figures,

  so I’d never actually been to a formal

  state event. It was an eye opener.

  The dinner itself was in a ballroom

  decorated in teal, sea green, gold, and

  tan. Round tables were covered with

  elegant china, silver, and crystal. Each

  table had its own candelabra and floral

  arrangement.

  I was seated at the head table, which

  was on a raised stage, between Adriana

  and Igor. I had done a personal check of

  the security arrangements that afternoon.

  I could tell that irritated Special Agent

  Albright, but it was my job to be

  Adriana’s last line of defense, and I

  wasn’t going to let anyone’s attitude get

  in the way.

  Everything was perfectly normal,

  which made me nervous as hell,

  particularly since Rizzoli had e-mailed

  to let me know that Jan Mortensen had

  disappeared

  completely.

  Rizzoli’s

  friends in the CIA had information that

  he

  appeared

  to

  be

  hiding

  out

  “somewhere in Europe.” They also

  swore that he hadn’t gotten there by

  plane, train, or boat. Which left

  teleportation, probably via Okalani.

  Thinking about Okalani brought back

  the memory of Hiwahiwa’s words. I

  prayed that she was wrong, that maybe

  the kid was okay, that her father was

  protecting her. But I didn’t really

  believe it. Just thinking about demons

  and torture made me nauseous. Having

  been on the wrong end of that particular

  equation, I don’t allow myself to think

  about it too closely. The memories were

  blunted, not erased, and they’d been

  coming closer and closer to the surface

  lately.

  I’d need to talk about it all with

  Gwen, my shrink, and soon. But tonight I

  was working and needed to be on my

  game. So I forced thoughts of Mortensen

  and Okalani out of my mind and kept

  scanning

  the

  crowd

  for

  anything

  untoward or unusual.

  Adriana and I were passing through

  the anteroom, greeting the guests and

  schmoozing. She was a vision in
/>
  emerald and gold. The queen, home at

  last, was sitting on the sidelines, letting

  the crowd come to her. She looked

  lovely, but tired, and the scars she’d

  mentioned to me days before were angry

  red welts marring her porcelain skin.

  Powerful people are just as vain and

  petty as the rest of us. The women all

  wanted to be the most beautiful and best

  dressed. This was a little trickier than

  usual since we were all wearing

  basically the same dress. Ah, the

  lavalava—equalizer of women. Of

  course, it really didn’t work that way.

  Beautiful women looked beautiful.

  Homely women looked … really well

  dressed. There were dresses in every

  conceivable fabric and pattern, with

  jewels in more colors than the rainbow.

  No expense had been spared as the

  attendees all tried to outshine one

  another.

  All the men wore tuxedos, in a variety

  of classic styles that looked good on

  most men. Still, some wear them better

  than others. I saw John Creede and felt a

  wash of emotions. His tux fit so

  flawlessly and he looked so good in it

  that most people would never have

  guessed he was actually working

  security, protecting King Dahlmar’s

  brother, Arkady.

  Greede gave me a cold nod,

  acknowledging me but making it strictly

  business. That stung, but not as much as

  I’d expected it too—probably because I

  was still angry with him. There were

  things I missed about him, but there were

  also plenty of things I didn’t.

  Gunnar Thorsen came up to Adriana. I

  hadn’t seen him since he’d oh-so-nicely

  interrogated me. I’d found him handsome

  in a business suit. In a tuxedo, he was

  stunning. His long hair had been pulled

  back in a tight braid. There are men who

  look effete with long hair, almost girly.

  He wasn’t one of them, not with those

  shoulders and those chiseled features.

  “Ladies, you’re looking lovely this

  evening.” He pulled Adriana into a light

  embrace, then released her and said,

  “That’s an excellent choice for you,

  Celia, very striking.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled up at him. I

  knew I looked good. My lavalava was

  made of raw silk in a dramatic black and

  white hibiscus pattern. The dress went

  well with my pale skin and there was

  quite a lot of that skin showing. Because

  it was such a bold print, I’d opted for

  simple yet elegant jewelry: a pair of

  pearl earrings and a platinum chain at

  my wrist.

  A lavalava is not made for a

  concealed carry, so I had been limited in

 

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